Rolling Loud’s Southern California installment rolled into a new venue, the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park this weekend, tapping some of hip-hop’s biggest names du jour, including Post Malone, as well as venerable veteran Lil Wayne for its opening day Friday, Dec. 14.

Beyond the music, there were art displays to see, trendy food items to eat, merch to buy and plenty of things to experience. These are some of the highlights from the festival’s opening day:

Ty Dolla $ign performs on day one of the two day music festival, Rolling Loud in Los Angeles on Friday, December 14, 2018. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Post Malone headlines day one of the two-day music festival, Rolling Loud in Los Angeles on Friday, December 14, 2018. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Sound

The gallery will resume inseconds

Wiz Khalifa smiles during his performance on day one of the two day music festival, Rolling Loud in Los Angeles on Friday, December 14, 2018. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Post Malone and Lil Wayne topped Friday’s bill, with Malone starting on one stage at 10:55 p.m. and Lil Wayne starting on another at 11 p.m. Both delivered sets of fan favorites.

Lil Wayne’s set included songs such as “Open Safe,” “Go DJ” and “Lollipop” before a busy crowd seen dancing along and repeating the lyrics.

There was hardly room to move as people packed the space outside the stage where Malone opened with the song “Too Young.” He followed with a number of his other favorites including “Better Now,” “Over Now” and “Psycho” and the crowd went wild with each song.

It wasn’t until later in the evening that Malone started surprising his audience.

Cheers erupted as Malone was joined by rapper 21 Savage for the song “Rockstar.” That ended with Malone handing 21 Savage a guitar that he proceeded to break on stage.

The evening ended on a high note when fireworks lit up the sky as Malone played “Congratulations.”

It sounded like Malone was going to do “White Iverson” but the festival venue turned off the speakers since it was midnight so Malone wished everyone a good night.

2. The art

Rolling Loud may have attracted fans with its lineup, which also included Saturday headliners Cardi B and Lil Uzi Vert, but the performers also inspired some of the visual art installations placed throughout the venue.

One that proved popular for selfies was a series of portraits that depicted rappers Lil Wayne, Cardi B, Lil Uzi Vert and Post Malone as royalty. The portraits, done by artist Duane Planes, depicted them as Wayne Cartier of Weezyana; Queen Cardius B of Uptown; Littlest Uzi Vertical, Dark Prince of the 1600; and Postus Malonius, Duke of Stoney.

Also on the way to the Audiomack stage, people can take selfies with King Littlest Wayne Cartier of Weezyana; Queen Cardius B of Uptown; Littlest Uzi Vertical, Dark Prince of the 1600; and Postus Malonius, Duke of Stoney (those were the titles of the paintings). pic.twitter.com/2zH27OTjF3

At a space not far from the portraits was visual artist Frida Davidsson, who painted pictures of rappers using only her body and not any brushes. She completed paintings of Lil Baby, Post Malone and Lil Wayne over the course of the evening.

Artist Frida Davidsson of Los Angeles paints a portrait of rapper Lil Baby using no brushes and only her body. She said what she was doing is called light painting. pic.twitter.com/z1gMA0SsPu

Rolling Loud felt like a cross between a music festival and a big dance party. Throughout the night, large groups of people could be seen running to either of the festival’s two stages whenever an artist would start performing and the ensuing giant sing-along and dance party were inevitable.

One of the people who may have danced a little too much was 22-year-old Sharnice Rusk of Marshall, Texas, who said she fainted during one of the performances. She was sitting on a sidewalk with her new friend, 18-year-old Tyler Jusino of San Diego, who helped her after the fainting spell.

Rusk said she flew out from Texas after seeing details about the festival and photos from previous years’ events on Twitter.

“Everybody looked like they were having a good time,” she said “So I bought a ticket.”

She said the event delivered and that it was particularly fun to see Ski Mask the Slump God take the Zen Stage around 6:30 p.m.

“The crowd got crazy,” she said.

4. The eats

There were dozens of food and drink purveyors serving everything from pizza to pupusas.

Some of the notable trendy restaurants included The Middle Feast Food Truck, Afters Ice Cream and Ridges Churro Bar.

People who wanted to warm up from the slightly chilly weather could head inside food hall The Fields L.A., a permanent food court that was taken over by the festival Friday and Saturday and remained open through the evening.

Both The Fields LA and several of the outdoor booths were serving up beer, wine and cocktails.

Selfie-takers were delighted: Not far from the music, people could check out the Google Pixel 3 Experience, where they were either able to take their own pictures or have someone take them using one of the phones.

Photos were taken in several different rooms, each with its own distinct look. One room had whimsical pink wallpaper, another had stark blue lighting and a third had a laser light effect. Guests then picked out their favorite six photos and entered their email into the phone to receive them.

At the very end of the experience, participants could play a computer game to win such prizes as Google sunglasses, PopSockets, Under Armour gear and electronics.

Alex Groves writes about casinos for the entertainment team at Southern California News Group. He started his first full-time gig as a breaking news reporter for The Press-Enterprise in 2015 but has also written stories on arts programs at local high schools, dining and events. In his free time, Alex enjoys hiking and traveling. A craft beer enthusiast, Alex likes to bring back an IPA as a souvenir from every new place he travels.